


This one's mine

by SpicyBiscuit



Series: Nygmobblepot AUs [3]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bus, Falling In Love, M/M, Prompt Fic, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:28:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26407276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyBiscuit/pseuds/SpicyBiscuit
Summary: A kind stranger woke Oswald up at his stop, but what are his intentions?
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Series: Nygmobblepot AUs [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747396
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	This one's mine

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if there's any mistakes, it's really late and I had to post this before the draft was deleted. 
> 
> It is based off a ship prompt

Oswald yawned, groggily rubbing his eyes as he stood at the bus stop late on evening. Once again, Fish made him stay hours after his shift was meant to be over, meaning he wasn't getting home until the early hours of the morning. If his mother was still up, she would be both furious and anxious over him being late. And if not? She would fuss over him in the morning. The majority of the time she wouldn't sleep until she knew he was home and safe though, so he always at least tried to make it back at a reasonable time.

He found it annoying, even if he knew it was because she loved him, and even though he loved her more than anything in the world. He was almost 29, and his mother was still acting like he was 15. Oswald could never really tell if her concern came from Gotham being a known as the dangerous crime-capital, or because she thought some 'hussy' was going to snatch him away. Perhaps she'd be glad to know he never swung that way. Or perhaps she would just stand with her traditional heteronormative ways and insist he was confused, and that she wanted grandkids. He was scared of her rejecting his sexuality, but part of him knew she was incapable of hating him no matter what he did.

And now, for the third time this week, Oswald was late, exhausted and unsure if he was even close to paying rent. His job at Fish Mooney's payed well, but didn't always give him enough money to pay for bills and essentials, along with any other item they may want to buy. He still wasn't able to quit his previous job so he was usually waking up early and working all day, late into the night.

The bus finally appeared down the road, and Oswald sighed with relief as he was able to take a seat towards the back and lean his head against the window. There wasn't many other people on the bus with him, which wasn't all too surprising considering the time. At least the ride home would be peaceful.

The young man behind him appeared to be in his early 20's, with messy brown hair and black rimmed glasses that if you looked close enough you could see the cracks in the lenses and that the arms were glued back on. He would frequently end up on the same bus as him of he ended work late at night, and Oswald would notice him glance up as soon as he got on and smile. But whether that was a smile of greeting or that of a stalker, he did not know. The young man appeared shy and awkward, and occasionally would mumble to himself, so the smile could mean anything at all.

Looking outside the window, Oswald watched the world move before him as the bus drove down its route. Colourful lights lit up the puddles from the rain earlier, but quickly became dull as they left the town and headed towards the poorer districts. He wasn't poor like the people of the Narrows, but if you were to put it on a scale, he'd probably guess it was the next rank up. The streets weren't as dangerous, but the houses were old and run down, with something always falling apart every other month.

As he watched the familiar journey through the window, Oswald began to feel his exhaustion take over. His eyes slowly fell shut, and he fell asleep to the sound of rain.

Then, a while later, he jolted awake as he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He looked at the hand, following it to the person, and Oswald stared at the brunette frowning. The man offered a shy smile, "You, uh...fell asleep. It's your stop next...right?"

Without a response, Oswald looked out the window to see that it was indeed his stop. Weird. He moved to press the button when he heard him speak again, "I um...already pressed it for you..."

Oswald shot him a look over his shoulder, causing the young man to shift uncomfortably, "I-I just didn't want you to miss it...I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable"

As the bus came to a stop, Oswald got up and left without so much as a thank you. He stood on the pavement, opening his umbrella, and looked back through the bus window, at the man who was looking back at his book with a frown on his face, mumbling to himself. The bus drove off and Oswald stayed in place for a few seconds, before heading down the road towards his apartment.

Needless to say, he was annoyed but concerned about this stranger paying enough attention to him to know what stop he got off at. What was the motive behind such a thing? Could it be possible that he was a spy or enemy that was hoping to target him to get to Fish? Something about it just didn't feel right, so he hurried home.

It took a while to get back, regardless of how fast he walked. And, as expected, Gertrud was waiting for him when he opened the door. "Mother, I'm home"

"Where have you been? Why do you worry your mother like this?" She asked as she pulled him into a hug, "it's a woman isn't it?"

"No mother, it's not a woman. It's never a woman. My boss just wanted me to stay behind again, I'm sorry"

Her soft, warm hands cupped his face as she looked at him with doubt, "Is dangerous out there always, I do not want you out so late. You seem tired. Go sleep". She kissed his forehead, and he offered a smile before heading to bed.

But he found he couldn't sleep, despite how exhausted he was. His mind kept drifting back to the man on the bus who had helped him. As annoying and concerning it was, he was grateful that someone had made sure he got home. If he fell asleep and ended up somewhere like central Gotham, he wouldn't have gotten home for another hour at least. Thinking back, something about the man didn't feel dangerous. No, something about the encounter felt genuine. He was often on the same bus, so maybe it was nothing bad at all.

All Oswald could do was stay alert and wary, just in case he was right, but also try to engage in a conversation to see what happens.

_____

It would not be for another 3 days before Oswald managed to get on the same bus as the man.

It was a night when Fish made him stay behind to help clean up the mess from a client who refused to pay their debt to her. Blood was surprisingly hard to clean up. He kept his hands in his pockets to hide the red stains on his palms, but was glad that the bus driver payed no attention when he handed her the money. As expected, the man was sat in the back corner, head darting back to his book as Oswald looked at him. Oswald rolled his eyes and marched to the back, taking the seat beside him.

"Oswald Cobblepot. And you are?" 

The man looked at him wide eyed, and almost appeared to stop breathing. His deer in headlights expression didn't fade as he held his hand out for Oswald to shake. "Ed...Nygma" 

Oswald forced a smile, not taking his hand, "Look, friend. I appreciate you waking me up at my stop, but I advise you to stop spying on me"

"What? I don-"

"I don't know what you are up to, but if you try anything I won't hesitate to-"

"Sir, I assure you I was just being nice! I-I often fall asleep too and I know how it feels to miss the stop when you just want to go home"

Oswald opened his mouth to reply, but found he had no answer. Was he really yelling at a man for something this stupid? He studied Ed's face and only saw anxiety and confusion there. Perhaps he was being truthful, or he was just a really good actor. Oswald frowned staring at him longer, studying his face for any cracks or signs that he had ulterior motives. But, when he found nothing, he just sighed and turned away, crossing his arms.

"You better hope you're not lying" He said, lowering his voice and made a point to show Ed his blood-stained hand, "Because I won't hesitate to kill you slowly if you even think of trying anything" 

Oswald expected a bigger reaction. But Ed just stared at his hand as if he was used to the sight of blood, and- was that curiousity? Ed opened his mouth, tried a few times to answer, before looking at Oswald with a smile "Rodger Dodger" 

Rodger Dodger? What was with this guy?

Oswald frowned to himself, then huffed and moved to the seat in front of him. He would be lying if he said that the mysterious stranger intrigued him. Not only was his weirdness slightly endearing, the reaction he got when Ed saw the blood was definitely not what Oswald had expected. Unless Ed was just an incredible actor, he could tell he wasn't a threat at all. Yes, it annoyed him that Ed seemed far too interested in him that he would like, but Oswald was beginning to accept that it was likely with innocent intent.

The journey seemed shorter than usual, and with the usual silence of the bus, Oswald had lost himself in thoughts. It was only when they stopped at a red light and he had a chance to observe the surroundings outside the window, that he realised it was his stop next. 

Oswald pressed the button and grabbed the pole to get up, he glanced back at Ed. The brunette was asleep, head resting gently against the glass, mouth parted ever so slightly, glasses askew. He looked kind of cute like that. Oswald felt himself smile. What an ironic circumstance. As the bus came to a hault with a jerk, Oswald reached back to tap his shoulder, causing Ed to wake with a surprised jolt. 

"Wha-?"

"Your stop is up soon. I'm getting off now, goodnight Mr. Nygma" The smile still played on his lips as he headed for the door, and exited the bus. His smile didn't fade as he glanced back through the window at Ed as the man adjusted his glasses, red in the face, and Oswald almost missed the way his heart fluttered. As the bus began to pull away down the road, Oswald hoped that it wouldn't be long before he saw Ed again. There was now a different emotion building inside him, and it was no longer suspicion. 


End file.
